And She Never Wanted To Leave
by Kiara Gray
Summary: Gendry's point of view of their scene in 8x2, and what happened after.
1. Chapter 1

**I LOVED this scene, but I wanted MORE. I wanted to know what Gendry was thinking when the one person he had ever really cared for told him she wanted him as well. So I had to write this. I wrote part of it while listening to Jenny of Oldstones, and it gave the story a feeling of melancholy for me. Please let me know what you think! I will TRY to put up another part before the next episode comes out, before it dashes my hopes and breaks my heart. Thank you!**

Gendry stood behind the post, his eyes on her back as she shot. Each arrow landed with perfect precision. She was not the same girl he had left all those years ago, angry and loud and uncertain. The storm inside her had calmed, and she seemed to have come out the other end as a woman. Gendry couldn't help his eyes moving down her back and over her body. He had never felt like this before, when she was young. It had been a friendship then, nothing more. And though he knew that was likely to be the only thing ever between them, that didn't stop his heart from racing when he saw her. But he would never let her know that. She would only mock him.

He stepped forward, making himself know. She turned, her eyes moving to the spear in his hand.

"That for me?"

Gendry nodded and held it out. As she stepped forward and took it, her eyes darted to his face for the briefest of seconds. There went his heart again. He took a deep breath. She walked away, spinning the spear in her hands.

"This'll work."

Though he couldn't see her face, her voice held the hint of a smile. As she turned back to him, he racked his brain for something to say.

"The last time you saw me, you wanted me to come to Winterfell. I took the long road, but…"

Arya tilted her head, still spinning the spear. "What did the Red Woman want with you?"

He dodged out of her way as she walked past him. She asked it with a cold indifference, as though she was asking out of boredom rather than genuine curiosity.

"She wanted my blood, for some kind of spell."

Arya raised an eyebrow. "Why your blood?"

Gendry looked back at her. He hadn't been sure if he wanted to tell her or not. Would she mock him, or laugh? Would she question how someone as simple as him could have royal blood?

"I'm Robert Baratheon's bastard."

Arya froze and her eyes widened. It was the first time since he had seen her again that she looked like the old Arya. He almost smiled, but continued.

"I didn't know until she told me. Then she tied me up, stripped me down, and put leeches all over me."

Arya frowned, looking away. As she walked past him she asked, "Was that your first time?"

Gendry frowned. What an odd question. "Yeah, no, I'd never had leeches put all over my co-"

"Your first time with a woman." Arya interrupted. She set her spear down, her back still to him.

Gendry felt a flush rise to his cheeks. He didn't want to discuss his first time with Arya, not that he considered the Red Woman his first time.

"What? I- I didn't… I wasn't with her." For a reason Gendry couldn't explain, he didn't want Arya picturing him with other women. He didn't want her to know of the others. Maybe it was the way the fire light danced in her eyes in this dark room. He blinked, pushing those thought from his mind.

Arya tilted her and began to remove her gloves. This didn't help Gendry's thoughts. "Were you with other girls? Before that, in King's Landing? Or after?"

Arya threw her second glove down on the table. Gendry swallowed. He didn't want to talk about this with her. When it came down to it, Arya was the only person who had truly been his friend his whole life. The one person who had cared for him and worried about him. Telling her about his sexual experiences wasn't something he wanted. He didn't need her to laugh at him.

"I…"

She squinted and shook her. "You don't remember?"

He sighed. She wasn't going to let this drop. "Yes, I was."

She walked towards him slowly, not taking her eyes off him. "One? Two? Twenty?"

"No, I didn't keep count."

The slightest of smiles pulled at her lips. "Yes, you did."

He let out a sigh. Fine, if she really wanted to know. "Three." Again, he didn't understand his urge to tell her that they hadn't meant anything. Whores who he had spent his money on, when his nights were loneliest and when… when he had thought of her.

Her eyes moved down his body and then back up, and she took a slow step towards him. Gendry held in a breath as she moved even closer.

"We're probably going to die soon."

Gendry's mouth parted as he looked down at her. God's she was beautiful.

"I want to know what it's like before that happens."

Gendry stared down at her. He couldn't have heard her right. Surely, she hadn't just told him she wanted to lie with him? But as he looked into her green eyes, she stared back with the confidence of a Queen. She raised a single eyebrow.

When he spoke, he said her name like a prayer, soft but with reverence. "Arya, I-"

His words were cut off by her mouth pressing against his. He hesitated a moment longer, his mind still trying to understand what was happening. She pulled back for only half a second, then her lips were on his once more. This time was gentler. He couldn't stop himself. He didn't want to. He leaned into the kiss, taking it with a hungry greed he had never felt before. Arya responded in kind, fumbling with the straps of his cloak, which he helped her with. He pulled her scabbard from her waist and threw it to the floor.

Even as they stripped each other, they kept their faces close. He wanted to be near her, to feel the softness of her skin and taste the sweetness of her mouth. They kissed again as she undid the laces of her top, and he let slip a giggle against her lips, which she immediately returned. There was nothing cold or hard about her giggle, or the feel of her smile against his face. Elation filled his chest. This was Arya. This was his best friend. And she wanted him in the same way he wanted her.

She ripped his shirt off and grabbed his face. Though she was small, there was power in everything she did. He wanted to hold her face, but she pushed him back onto the piles of sacks. He had to stop himself from telling her that was un-ladylike.

He took deep breaths as he looked up at her. She unlaced her shirt and untucked it from her pants. Gendry could hardly believe this. He was going to see Arya naked. Lady Arya, the rough and tuff tomboy he had loved when he was young. But as she removed her shirt, it wasn't her breasts his eyes focused on. All over her perfect pale skin were thin pink scars. Dozens of them. Some looked like slashes, others looked deeper. And his heart broke. He should have been there to stop that from happening. He should have searched for her after leaving Dragonstone.

He looked to her face when she spoke. "I'm not the Red Woman. Take your own bloody pants off."

He hesitated for only a second before doing as she said. She slid her pants down her body and stood before him for a second, as though wanting him to take her all in. And he did. She was stunning. The most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Though she gave off an energy of power and strength, every curve of her body was soft and gentle. She flipped her hair as she climbed atop him.

Gendry looked up at her as she settled herself over him. Her gentle smile filled him with comfort and awe. He knew, it that moment, he would die for her if need be. She kissed him again, and this time it was slow, as though they had all the time in the world.

She settled her hips over his manhood, and he felt nerves course through his chest. He had never done this with someone he cared for before, let alone his childhood friend. She moved around, and he realized she didn't know what she was doing.

He took ahold of her thighs and lifted her so that his manhood pressed against her. She opened her eyes and looked down at him, the smallest smiles still on her lips. Then she lowered herself. He inhaled sharply at same time as she did. He didn't want to hurt her, but she didn't seem to mind. She slid herself down until he was fully inside her, never taking her eyes from his. He still held on to her thighs as she slid back up and then down again. She went slowly at first, and then picked up speed, moving her hips in a rocking motion against him. Maybe she did know what she was doing. All the while Gendry watched her in awe. Even in this she was like a warrior, her eyes piercing him as her body took complete control. But he was a warrior too, and he wanted her to know.

He slid his thumb down between her thighs and found what he was looking for. As she moved back down, he rubbed his thumb against the mound at her opening. This was the second time Arya had looked shocked tonight, and he smiled. She smiled back.

He sat up and wrapped an arm around her back, pulling her face back to his. He kept his other hand between her thighs as they continued to move together. She bit his lip, pulling at it with her teeth, and this derived an audible moan from him. She smiled, his lip still in between her teeth. He narrowed his eyes. Two could play at that game.

He moved his hand from her back to her breast. Her nipples were hard against his chest. He took one between his fingers and rolled it. Arya cried out, her body spasming against him at the new sensation. He smiled, and then leaned her back and took her nipple into his mouth. Her nails dug into his head as she arched her back. She yanked his mouth away from her breasts and brought it back to her own. She moved quickly now, and he helped, thrusting into her each time she came down. Without warning she cried out, throwing her head back as she orgasmed. He watched her as she came. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. For once she was completely unguarded, her eyes closed in a moment of ecstasy. She looked like a goddess. When she came down, he slid himself from her and pulled her down to lay on his chest.

She breathed heavily against him for several seconds. Finally she looked up at him. "Don't you want to come now?"

He smirked. "No, it's fine. That was enough for me for now."

She rested her head on his chest and didn't say anything for a while. Gendry watched her head rise and fall as he breathed. He began to wonder if she had fallen asleep when she spoke.

"That was better that I thought it would be."

He smiled. "Yeah, for me too."

She looked up. "What do mean? You've done it before."

"Well, yeah, but this was different."

Arya frowned and rested her chin on her hand. "How?"

"Well, because…" He didn't how to tell her that everything had just changed for him.

She raised her eyebrow. "Spit it out."

"Because it was with you."

She frowned again. "So?"

"So… I don't know. You're you. You're Arya. You were my best friend and the one person who ever really cared for me." He ran his fingers down her cheek as she studied his face. "I guess it just feels different when you do it with someone you love."

He didn't understand why her eyes widened at first, until he realized what he had just said. He had just told her he loved her. And he realized it was the truth. He had always loved her. She began to get up and pull away, but he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back down.

"Arya, don't. Don't run away from me."

She shook her head. "I'm not running."

"Yes, you are. I can see it on your face that that scared you. You don't need to be afraid."

She narrowed her eyes. "I'm not afraid-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know that you aren't afraid of anything. So then don't run away."

She paused for a second before relaxing and lying back down beside him, her chest pressed against his side. "You don't love me Gendry."

He smirked at the ceiling. "Yes, I do."

"No, you don't. Men say stupid things after they have sex. They say what women want to hear."

He nodded. "Except I know that isn't what you want to hear. But it's the truth. I've never lied to you before; I don't want to start now."

He could feel her eyes on him, so he looked down at her. They stared into each other's eyes for a long time before she finally spoke.

"Gendry, you're most good person I've ever met."

He laughed. "Then you must not have met many good people."

"No."

He frowned. Her eyes were distant, as though she were once again traveling all the hard roads she had come from. He made small circles on her back with his finger.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you."

This time when she looked at him it was with amusement. "I did fine protecting myself."

"Maybe so, but I still should have been there. I should have fought them all off when they tried to separate us."

Arya chuckled. "You and me against thirty men? We were children. If it happened now, I would cut through them without a thought."

A look of satisfaction crossed her face as she said it. Gendry shook his head. "Arya, what happened to you?"

She rolled onto her back. "That's a very long story that we don't have time for, nor do I want to tell."

He nodded. "Yeah, I understand."

The exhaustion from the day came over him then. He had worked from the time the sun came up in the forge, and he knew he needed rest.

"We should get some sleep, before they come."

He words sobered them both, as they remembered what was coming.

"Yeah, you're right," she said. "Go to sleep."

As darkness pulled him deeper into unconsciousness, he didn't hear her gentleness in her voice when she said, "I love you too."


	2. Chapter 2

Arya was out of bed before the first horn finished blowing. Gendry awoke with a start, his eyes searching and finding her immediately. He stood from the pile of sacks and Arya threw his pants to him, which he caught with one hand.

"They're here?" he asked.

She nodded as she laced up her pants. They dressed in silence, though Gendry couldn't stop himself from looking at her. She didn't stop to look up at him as she tied the collar of her shirt.

"Arya, there's still time to get to the crypts."

She stopped now, her eye's flashing up at him. "If you do love me, you won't ask me to do that. I'm going to fight. This is my home, my family."

He sighed. It had been worth a shot, even if he knew she would never go for it. Arya had never been one to run from a fight, and she wasn't going to start now.

She finished dressing and grabbed her weapons. He thought she was going to run out and leave him there alone, but she stopped at the door and turned. "Hurry up. We need to find Sansa."

Gendry smiled. "We?"

Arya rolled her eyes. "Do you want me to leave you on your own?"

Gendry smirked as he tied the clasps of his cloak, but Arya shook her head. "You should leave that here; you won't be able to fight with it."

Gendry scoffed. "It's freezing out there."

Arya walked back to him, her eyebrow raised. "Once the fight begins, you won't be cold." With a single pull she untied the clasp and allowed it to fall to the floor. Gendry's mind flashed to just hours before, and though he knew it was crazy, he wanted her again. To hold her just once more before the end came. She turned to leave but her grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to him. Taking her face in his hands, he pressed his lips to hers, softly yet insistently.

He thought she would pull away and tell him stop messing around. Instead, she kissed him back, wrapping one hand around the back of his head and holding firmly. She seemed just as eager for this last moment with him as he did with her. When their lips parted, they kept their faces close for several seconds. When he spoke it was a whisper.

"I wish we never had to leave this room. We could live here forever."

He opened his eyes and found hers were open too. Her eyes held desperation and sorrow. "Gendry, if I die-"

"Don't." He couldn't bare the thought. "You won't die."

"But if I do, don't let me turn into one of those things. Stab me with the dragon glass."

He tightened his jaw. "Arya don't ask me to do that. I couldn't."

She frowned, but her eyes held no anger. "Would you rather fight me as corpse."

He ran his thumb across her chin. "I wouldn't fight you."

Anger flashed into her eyes now. "Yes, you would. Don't you dare die for me Gendry. If I die, you go on."

He scoffed. "Go on to what? To endless years of missing you and sorrow? I already lived that, and I knew you were alive. If you turn…"

She struck him across the face. "Stop it! Don't say that! I don't need to worry about you while I'm fighting, and you don't need to worry about me."

He laughed. "Arya, I will worry for you for the rest of our lives. Look, I know that you don't feel the same about me but…" He searched her face, trying to find the words to make her understand. "You're the one thing I've every really wanted. I won't let anyone take you away from me."

Her expression didn't change, but her eyes softened. "Nobody's taking me away. Now let's go."

He followed her out of the store room. As they passed the forge he darted in and grabbed the great axe he had made for himself. They made their way to the battlements and found Arya's sister Sansa on the wall, looking out at the dark fields. Gendry looked and saw that their army was already in position. He couldn't see the army beyond, but he knew it was there.

Arya approached her sister. "Sansa, you need to get to the crypts. It's not safe up here."

Sansa glanced down at Arya. "It's not safe anywhere. Where were you?"

Arya glanced back at Gendry and Sansa's eyes followed. Only the slightest of eyebrow raises gave any indication that she knew what had happened between them.

"This is Gendry."

"Yes, I know who he is. Jon told me." She looked away from them, back to the field. "You two better get into position. They're almost here."

Gendry knew that he would be defending the courtyard, if any made it past the wall. Arya was going to be one of the archers. He swallowed hard and looked down at her. He had been protecting her for as long as he had been with her, but he couldn't protect her now. He wanted to say something, but with Sansa so near, he didn't know what.

He sighed. "Good luck, Arya."

He turned to leave but felt her hand on his wrist. She spun him around, and this time it was her that grabbed his face. She kissed him, and this time it was all desperation, quick and hungry. Forgetting that the world was falling around them, he lifted her off the ground, squeezing her body to his. He wasn't sure how long they stood there embracing each other, but when he set her down, she took several seconds longer to let him go. Finally, she looked up at him. "Don't die."

He nodded. "You too."

When he released her and turned away, it felt as though he were leaving a part of behind. A part that he could no longer live without.

Arya watched him go, and it took everything in her to not call for him to come back. Why had she been so foolish to let him into her heart just before she might lose him? She had thought she could keep her emotions in check, could keep it only physical. But the moment their lips had touched, that had all gone out the window. She had loved him as a child, and now as a woman the feeling had grown hundred-fold. She turned and saw Sansa watching her. She walked to stand beside her.

"You love him."

Arya glanced up at her sister. It wasn't a question. "How do you know?"

A frowned crossed Sansa's face. "You would never let someone in that you didn't."

Arya closed her eyes. "I don't want to love him."

Sansa nodded. "You don't want to feel what it will be like to lose him. I understand that. But trust me when I say life without love isn't life at all. I learned that from Cersei."

Arya frowned. "If he dies, I'll never love again."

Sansa looked down at her, her eyes filled with sadness. "Then don't let him die."


End file.
